Start 2013 by Loving Yourself

Just barely 2 weeks into the New Year, I am seeing a consistent mental pattern among modern city dwellers especially working women or working mothers who tend to be very hard on themselves and their bodies. May be it’s because woman is traditionally perceived as the “weaker” sex; hence she has to try so hard to prove herself in the male-dominated society. In attempting to prove her mettle for survival, woman tends to drive her body-mind to the breaking point despite a constant plea by her body intelligence to slow down. Society has taught her to be so goal-oriented and driven by the “more & more” mentality as defined by society (better lives, better grades for children, more business, more contracts, more expansions etc); she works her body like a machine. By and by, her body develops certain chronic fatigue and body aches, subsequently her mental and emotional health also take a toll with an increased stress level, a constant restlessness, irritability and mood swings. Many women drag around with a pain body and a battered consciousness in life but they are unable to get out of the vicious cycle in which they are stuck in. Her sleep pattern also gets disturbed which denies her from the natural self-renewal process she gets during deep sleep state. When sleep is deprived, her ability to concentrate begins to wane; eventually complex mental disorders such as chronic anxiety, depression or fear psychosis begin to set in including physical diseases.

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Science of Breathing (part i) – Breath is Life

Breathing is synonymous with life itself – this is the first thing we do at birth and the last thing we do when we exit this body. Breathing is important to sustain life. Yet, this natural process is often compromised by our environmental conditions, past conditioning or traumatic experiences.

From the Human Developmental Patterns developed by Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, it states that the breathing pattern is the template for all other movement patterns and states of consciousness, any distortion at this level of the human being affects all other physical, physiological and psychological processes. Many modern scientists are now discovering what the yogis have known for thousands of years – i.e. yoga movement and breathing techniques increase our lung capacity and efficiency.  After having worked on breathing for more than 10 years, I absolutely concur with this truth. For these reasons, the breathing pattern is the first thing I work on with my students because fundamentally breathing connects them to the most basic life process and therefore with themselves.

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Living an Authentic Life

Do you know the difference between honesty and authenticity?

This is my understanding. First of all, honesty is definitely a better quality than dishonesty as we all know dishonesty only leads to more mess and suffering in life.

Many people claim that they are honest, for example, they pay their taxes regularly to their country, they would admit their mistakes, they express anger with someone if it is not right, they tell you off if they are offended, they would even come clean with their spouse if they cheat in the marriage etc. Basically, if we look deeply, honesty is a social quality which is essential for living together in a community. But honesty is built on ego because honesty demands and sometimes tries to torture others. Fundamentally, honesty is a poor substitute for authenticity.

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